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General Motors reported a strong profit on Wednesday on profitability gains in North America and ongoing improvements in Europe. Excluding some one-time items, GM's pre-tax profit was $2.6 million, ahead of Wall Street estimates and ahead of many expectations for the still-recovering Detroit giant.

A big part of that success came from GM's home region of North America. GM reported a pre-tax profit of $2.2 billion for the third quarter here in North America -- a big increase from the $1.7 billion it earned here a year ago.

The key difference between then and now? GM's new products are earning fatter profits, and none of those have been more important than its all-new Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

In fact, as Motley Fool contributor John Rosevear explains in this short video, those new pickups have already put GM close to a profit goal that Wall Street wasn't expecting the company to meet for a few years yet -- and that sent shares soaring on Wednesday. Watch the video for the full story.

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